Chapter 6
XAVRAN
He heard their cheerful voices before the front gate opened and his family raced in. All four of his beloved little people ran through the front garden, tossing their school bags under the nearest hedge.
“Hi, Daddy.” Illal, the sweetest one, rushed to him first. She wrapped her arms around his middle.
“Come here, youngsters,” he boomed, opening his arms wide. Ivex and Xilvo bounced into the hug next, finally joined by Ene.
He hugged them all at once. The one advantage of having fewer children than most was that he could do this—an all-family hug.
“How was school?” He released them with some reluctance.
“Good.”
“Fine.”
“The same.”
He didn’t know why he bothered asking. He knew all about their achievements in school from the daily charts of their performance and progress reports. He never got any meaningful answers when he asked, but he still did every day he was home.
“Bring your bags to your rooms,” he ordered, pointing at the pile under the hedge. “Then I want you to meet someone.”
Mara remained in her room, probably taking a nap. Susanna was in the kitchen.
Stefan entered after the children and closed the front gate.
“Is this the new nanny?” The man smiled, his gaze directed behind Xavran’s shoulder.
Xavran turned around to see Susanna standing in the archway of the exit from the front garden.
“Hi.” She waved at Stefan, her focus quickly shifting to the kids, who started picking up their school bags. “Nice to meet you all.” She gave another wave, looking somewhat stiff. Meeting his rambunctious foursome must have overwhelmed her.
He moved to her side, unsure of how to show his support to make her feel more relaxed. “Yes. This is the new nanny, everyone. Her name is Susanna.”
“Oh, you’re so pretty,” Illal cooed, enclosing Susanna in a hug.
“Thank you.” Susanna smiled, finally relaxing a bit.
Two tiny dimples appeared high on her cheekbones with that smile, which made her expression rather adorable.
She wrapped her arms around his little girl. The concern in his chest lifted a little.
“I’m Illal.” His daughter introduced herself then her siblings. “My brothers, Xilvo and Ivex.”
The boys adjusted their school tunics and nodded, saying in unison, “Nice to meet you.”
He felt pleased with them using their manners.
“And this is my sister Ene.” Illal gestured at his other daughter.
“Nice to meet you,” Ene muttered, refraining from hugs.
* * *
SUSANNA
Some may find adult Aldraians ugly or at the very least intimidating, but the little ones were simply adorable.
Illal had the sweetest smile. Her long, tawny hair was pulled into a high ponytail, the ends of it reaching down to her waist.
The two boys seemed as rambunctious as any human children would be. Under the strict stare of their father, however, they obviously were making an effort to behave. The horns on their heads were only two-three inches long. I itched to touch them, they were so cute.
Ene, the second girl, gave me a stare that was both curious and slightly resentful. Her light-gray hair was cut short. Separated into sections, it was tied into pigtails in the same spots on her head where the male Aldraians had their horns—several in the row from her forehead to her nape and one above each ear.
I wondered if this hairstyle was in fashion or if she was making a statement.
“Bags in your rooms,” the captain barked out the order again.
Grabbing their clear shoulder bags, they obediently trotted out of the room, one by one.
“Are you hungry, guys?” Stefan called after them.
“Starving!” the boys yelled back.
“They’re always starving.” He smiled, coming to me. “I’m Stefan.”
“Susanna.” I shook his hand.
Stefan’s wide smile seemed to have a permanent residence on his face—a rather stark contrast to the stern expression of his employer.
“How do you like Aldrai so far?” Stefan asked, and I realized he wasn’t speaking English. With the translator working so flawlessly, I had to pay very close attention to catch that. It sounded like a Slavic language, but I couldn’t tell exactly which one.
“From the little I’ve seen of Aldrai so far, I love it,” I replied.
He ran his fingers through his cropped, light-brown hair.
“Aldrai is gorgeous. I’ve been here for close to a year now, and I still find it breathtaking.” Stefan followed the kids out of the room. “Come, I’ll show you around the kitchen a little. I’m sure Xavran didn’t.”
The captain scoffed, but said nothing, silently stomping to the kitchen with us.
“Aldraians don’t eat lunch. Some only have one meal a day—dinner,” Stefan continued, talking on the way. “The kids get breakfast at school and a snack when they get home.”
“The snack is a human habit,” the captain noted. “My children didn’t need it until Stefan started making it for them.”
“Guilty as charged,” the nanny easily agreed. “I got them into this habit. Aldraians eat very little throughout the day. Dinner is their main meal.”
He washed his hands under the waterfall feature in the kitchen, then opened the wooden door that was built into the hill.
“This is the cold room. Xavran keeps it well stocked,” he said.
I peeked inside. The underground air felt chilly. A staircase led down into a space that was much larger than it appeared from the outside. Every wall inside was covered with floor to ceiling shelves of various sizes. And every shelf was laden with jars, boxes, and baskets filled with items like cured meat, bread, grains, and things I couldn’t name.
Stefan selected a jar and a box from a shelf above the stairs.
“Aldraian meal preparation is intense,” he explained. “They pickle, ferment, and marinade anything and everything. Xavran makes his own sauces and marinades for all of that, and some recipes take weeks to complete.”
I turned to the captain, trying to imagine this mountain of a man pickling and marinating. He had looked like he knew his way around the kitchen when he’d made the sandwich for me earlier.
“You can cook?” I asked anyway.
He just grunted in reply.
“He does, and he's excellent at that, too,” Stefan spoke for him. “When he’s home, he makes dinner. But I strongly advise you to stay out of his way in the kitchen. Xavran gets grumpy as hell when he’s disturbed while working his culinary magic.”
The captain shrugged his wide shoulders, looking slightly uncomfortable at being the topic of conversation.
“I better go.” He tipped his head at Stefan. “You’re in good hands now, Susanna.”
He exited the kitchen.
“He’s not much of a talker,” Stefan said.
“I don’t know...” I stared at the archway through which the captain’s large figure had disappeared. “He spoke just fine with me earlier. He told me all about his expectations and such.”
Stefan’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
“Well, that’s rare. Usually, I have to drag words out of him. But he is a good man, fair and just. He’s great to work for. Anything you want, just ask him. He’ll make it happen.”
He opened the jar, cut four slices of bread, and made sandwiches like the one the captain had made for me earlier, only much smaller.
“The kids demand food when they get home,” he explained. “But if you feed them too much, they won’t eat dinner.”
The children bounced into the kitchen, one by one.
“Did you wash your hands?” Stefan placed a sandwich in front of each of them. Like the captain earlier, Stefan wasn’t using any plates. “Are you hungry?” he asked me.
I shook my head. “No, I just had a sandwich.”
“Okay, good.” He started putting the things away. “I usually stay until Xavran comes home from work. I have dinner at home with my wife. But you’ll live here, right?”
“Yes. I’m...um...on a live-in basis, I guess, with room and board.”
“Right. Well, like I said, Xavran likes making dinners. You don’t have to worry about those for now.”
Thank God for that. Aside from a fried egg or avocado toast, I rarely cooked. I made a mental note to find some recipes somewhere for when the captain left for his job in the desert.
“So, I’ll be leaving soon,” Stefan said, putting away the leftover bread and meat. “But I’ll come back first thing in the morning to get the kids ready and take them to school. Do you drive?”
“Like a car? Yes.” I lingered by the table near the kids. Absorbed by their sandwiches, they didn’t pay me much attention.
Stefan nodded. “Good. Then you’ll learn how to fly the aircraft too.”
“What?” I gaped at him. “I can’t fly!”
“It’s easy, trust me. Those things practically fly themselves.”